


Warmth in Winter’s Depths

by bittereloquence



Category: Marvel 616
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Invaders Era, Mild Cursing, flashfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-06
Updated: 2012-06-06
Packaged: 2017-11-07 00:42:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/425033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bittereloquence/pseuds/bittereloquence
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bucky's boring and freezing night of standing watch is much improved by Toro's company and not just because he puts off heat like a radiator either.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmth in Winter’s Depths

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters within, nor am I making any money off of this story. All I own are the twisted ideas floating around in my head.

_In the depths of winter I finally learned there was in me an invincible summer._

**-Albert Camus**

* * *

Though he would rather eat broken glass than admit it, Bucky Barnes was freezing his ass off. It was his turn to stand watch; and try though he might to keep warm by constantly moving along the perimeter of the Invader’s camp, it wasn’t doing a lot of good.

With his hands bundled up in two pairs of ragged woolen gloves, he paused near the northwest corner of the camp and thought longingly about things like a roaring campfire or toasting his toes by putting them too close to the radiator.

“Psst, Bucky!” At the sound of his name being called, the teenager turned to his right and saw Toro’s familiar form melt out of the shadows. The fact that his friend’s only concession to the freezing cold was that he was wearing a set of fatigues instead of his usual uniform made Bucky hate him just a little.

“Toro, whatcha doing out here?” he managed between chattering teeth.

For a moment Toro looked genuinely puzzled by the fact that Bucky was so visibly chilled before it occurred to him that the other must be feeling the cold. The one boon from his own mutation was he didn’t really notice things like extreme cold or heat.

“You look pretty miserable, pal.”

“That’d be because I’m freezing my fuckin’ balls off,” Bucky pointed out laconically. If Steve had been there to overhear him using such rough language he probably would have threatened to wash his mouth out soap. But thankfully he was not and Bucky was allowed free rein to scandalize Toro.

“Better watch it or Pappy will think you’re trying to corrupt me.”

“Then I guess you’d better cover your ears, punk,” Bucky quipped right back, shoving Toro playfully.

“I’m not the one shivering like a little kid. Jeeze, it’s not that bad, Buck,” Toro scoffed quietly. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna let a little cold bug you.” A light of mischief shown in Toro’s eyes as he teased his friend

“One, you’re a firebug so you’ve already got an advantage over the rest of us poor bastards who have to stand here and freeze. And two, you’d prolly be parading around in those itty bitty shorts if Jim hadn’t told you to put on some clothes.” That insult might have held more weight if he hadn’t been valiantly trying not to let his teeth chatter in between each word.

Exasperated, Toro pinned him with a disgusted look. “Gimme your hands,”

“Huh? Why?”

Wisely deciding an object lesson was the way to go, Toro briefly created a brief tendril of fire rotating out from the center of his palm. The brief flash of light was enough to illuminate the young mutant’s mischievous smile. “Firebug, remember? Now, gimme your hands.”

By this point, Bucky was cold enough he didn’t even object when Toro tugged off the first layer of wet and sodden wool gloves. The snow had completely soaked that pair through so Toro tucked them away inside his shirt so they would dry faster. Next came the second pair of gloves which were even more ragged looking than the first. The fact Bucky had two pairs was remarkable all on its own since woolen socks and gloves were two of the hottest commodities during the winter months.

No doubt Bucky had fallen back into his old habits of wheeling and dealing to manage that feat but Toro wasn’t going to snitch on his friend.

With his hands stripped bare, Bucky only had a moment to flinch at the cold before Toro’s hands enfolded his. The mutant’s ambient body temperature was warmer than a regular human’s which meant Toro put off heat like a freaking furnace. It was a definite perk in times like this but sucked when you were sharing quarters with him in the middle of summer.

The warmth surrounding Bucky’s hands felt so amazing he didn’t even care about the potential embarrassment and mortification of one of the other Invaders accidentally catching them holding hands like a couple of dames. Right now, Bucky would happily put up with Namor’s attitude or Jim’s blasé amusement if it meant he could continue to share a little bit of warmth with his friend.

“Thanks, Toro,” Bucky finally said quietly.

In the dim moonlight he could make out the smile on Toro’s face “No problem, Buck.” 

“Too bad we don’t have a couple of cups of coffee or even cocoa.”

“Sorry, I left those in my other pants.” And they were operating under blackout conditions which was why they were all going to spend a couple of chilly nights huddling together for warmth until they got out of enemy territory.

The two young men fell into a companionable sort of silence after that but finally Bucky had to move on with his patrol.

“I should get going and you should try and get some sleep before it’s your turn at watch,” he warned quietly.

Stifling a yawn, Toro nodded and pulled out Bucky’s first set of gloves. They had become quite toasty in between his shirt and torso. Helping the other man with his gloves, the mutant smiled briefly at his friend’s quiet sound of surprise when the warmed wool was tugged into place and quickly covered up with the second set of gloves.

“Oh, wow, I’m definitely keeping you around now, Toro,” Bucky said with a quiet laugh.

“I’ll remind you of that the next time you’re threatening to knock my block off.”

“Yeah, yeah, go get some sleep, punk.” He nudged his friend back in the direction of the camp and without another word, Bucky continued on his patrol.

**Author's Note:**

> This little flash fic is to christen my new tumblr. Much thanks to my tireless friend Wyntir Rose for beta’ing this and putting up with me squeeing at her about my love of Bucky + Toro


End file.
